Our New/Old Dishwasher and a Magazine Shoot with Mom

Hey there!

Are you having a good weekend?
Hope so!

It's been relatively quiet around here this weekend
(more about that later this week),
but last weekend, on the other hand, was nothing short of supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
(That's short for "chaotic".)

It started with a phone call to my Mom earlier in the week.



(Ring, ring)

"Hello?" (Mom)

"Hey Mom!" (Me)

"Hey- what's up?" (Mom)

"Are you still thinking about coming up here this weekend?" (please say yes, please say yes)

"Yeah, why?" (Mom)

Now, like any daughter that didn't want to scare her mother out of coming to her house would do, I decided it would be best to tell her the fun news about styling and shooting the house for Cottages and Bungalows magazine- instead of the exciting-yet-not-exactly-fun news about lifting a stainless steel dishwasher into, and out of, the back of a vehicle in 94 degree weather so that it could be in the shots of our kitchen.

"Well, I have to photograph the house for Cottages and Bungalows magazine, and it would be awesome if you could help me style everything. You're so good at that kind of stuff." (me, and a pat of butter)

"Oh. Okay. Yeah, that's fine." (Mom/Saint)

"Awesome, thanks!" (me, trying to figure out how I can at least sort of prepare her for "other" news)

"Oh! I almost forgot!" (me, after I figured out a way to prepare her for the other news)

"What?" (Mom)

"Well, ya know how we haven't had a dishwasher in a couple years?" (me)

"Yeah?" (Mom)

"One of our local readers offered to give us their previously-loved, stainless steel, GE Profile dishwasher! It's only a few years old, but they got a new one, and couldn't justify keeping the "old" one. Isn't that awesome!?" (me, hoping she just focuses on the awesomeness of the situation, and not on how the dishwasher will get from point A to point B.)

"That is pretty awesome." (Mom, smiling, and no doubt amazed that things like this can happen thanks to the internet.)

"I know. It's crazy." (me, just glad she didn't bring up the point A to point B thing.)



Well, long story short, Mom did come up last weekend.

And Mom did nervously drive up a really steep driveway in her PT Cruiser.

And Mom did do a 6-point turn at the top of the really steep driveway so that she could drive backwards up another driveway, so that the back of her PT Cruiser was facing the garage door of the sweet family with the previously-loved, stainless steel GE Profile dishwasher.

And Mom did lift the dishwasher into the back of her PT Cruiser (with the help of Mr. Previously-Loved Dishwasher) in 94 degree weather, while yours truly stood in the garage and told Mrs. Previously-Loved Dishwasher about all the disgusting things we found behind our old dishwasher when we moved it out of the house.
(Let's just say they begin with the letter "R", and rhyme with the word, "COACHES".)

(Note: I really didn't mean for my Mom to do all the stressful driving/heavy lifting. She's just such a go-getter, I tell ya! She has a way of just jumping in there before I even have a chance to stop her from go-getting. I really just wanted her to go with me to pick up the dishwasher. And I thought I was going to borrow a neighbors truck- so she wouldn't have to drive. I should've known Supermom would swoop in a save the day, as usual.)

(LOVE YOU MOM!)



Anywho- the dishwasher alcove in our kitchen has since been cleaned up, exterminated, and is home to a brand new (3-year-old) previously loved, stainless steel GE Profile dishwasher!



It's so pretty.
And SO quiet.
You can hardly even tell it's running!

As you can see from the photo above, we've still gotta get a stainless stove.
But for the first time in a long time, it actually feels like we're making some progress in the appliance department!

And speaking of the stove, my Mom made me unplug it.
Ya see, ever since we moved in, two and half years ago, the stove just randomly comes on by itself, all throughout the day and night.

And when I say, "comes on", I mean ON.
Like, full on "go ahead and throw the pork chops in cuz the oven is 350 degrees right now even though the knob is clearly in the OFF position".

The electrician that helped us install the new dishwasher also thought it was a good idea to unplug it when it wasn't being used.

So I unplugged it.

But now that's it unplugged, I kinda don't want to pull it back out just so I can plug it back in when I wanna cook something in/on it.
Ya know what I mean?

Pain. In. The bootie!

Needless to say, I've been eating a lot of raw fruits and veggies, and microwaveable food this past week.



As for the photo shoot- well, it was pretty sunny outside, and my Mom is the bomb stylist, so we got some great shots. She works with flowers on a daily basis, so her talent came in extra handy when it came to putting together flower arrangements for the rooms we shot.
I believe our house will be featured in the September issue of Cottages and Bungalows, and I'm especially excited about it because the photography and styling was a family affair this time. Every time I see the photos, I'll think about the crazy/fun weekend me and my Mom had preparing the rooms for their close ups!

(LOVE YOU SO MUCH MOM!)



And as if she hadn't already done enough- my Mom also surprised me and Kev with a few early birthday presents last weekend too. (We're both turning 36 in June- SHHHH!)



She hooked us up with the quilt, the duvet and one of the quilted shams.
I love how it all looks together!
The colors just make me feel happy!

(THANK YOU MOM!)

Now I've just gotta get a bedskirt, three euro shams and inserts, and a bed to put it all on- and we'll be on our way to a real life, grown up person bedroom!
Woo hoo!



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